Always tell the truth the liars find most offensive

If you are a conservative, the American Civil Liberties Union just isn’t that into you.

Yes, you knew that already. But a leaked memo just confirmed that the organization’s default position of hating us will henceforth go full Spinal Tap and be turned up to 11.

The confidential memo says that the ACLU will weigh protecting the First Amendment against other objectives like social justice, racial equality, and women’s rights because offensive speech causes boo-boos.

“Factors such as the (present and historical) context of the proposed speech; the potential effect on marginalized communities; the extent to which the speech may assist in advancing the goals of white supremacists or others whose views are contrary to our values; and the structural and power inequalities in the community in which the speech will occur,” were the exact words used by the ACLU zealots.

Which brings me to Republican Rep. Diane Black of Tennessee, who is now running for governor of her state. In a climate that is increasingly seeking to criminalize speech that doesn’t pass muster with the progressive thought police, we need people like her willing to say the very truths most offensive to those destroying the culture.

She was recently speaking her mind about gun violence and the breakdown of the culture in front of a gathering of pastors, and then she refused to recant or back down after the Huffington Post predictably jumped the shark by reporting about what Black said with the headline “Porn leads to school shootings.”

That – shocked face – is not what she said. She actually referred to her background as a nurse in discussing the need to be able to tell the difference between symptoms and causes. And to that end, she said guns were even more prevalent in society throughout most of American history, yet there was far less bloodshed from their use. So what changed?

What changed was the breakdown of the family and the corrupting of the soul by multiple means. And yes, among other things, that includes the use of porn. That’s something I know firsthand, coming from the first generation of Americans for whom porn was mainstreamed and accepted. I fully indulged in that progressive delicacy and can provide firsthand testimony of what a long-term battle for the mind this is. And I am hardly alone, which is why my friend Fred Stoeker prophetically called it “every man’s battle” in his best-selling book several years ago.

Black’s communications director, Chris Hartline, told me it was a message people in Tennessee are thanking her for, particularly since it has been so ham-handedly twisted out of context by a media in the tank for depravity.

“This wasn’t a political answer for her,” Hartline said. “Like just pointing to ‘mental health,’ which is a road to more government solutions. But there’s a more fundamental part of [school gun violence].”

Hartline said the Huffington Post’s overreach following Black’s meeting with pastors even led to an open letter against Black written by a coalition of porn stars. So if you are keeping score at home, the game of “the one who is dumbest last loses” in this scenario is being dominated by everybody but Black – and by a long shot.

“I said we should put [the porn star rebuke] on a bumper sticker,” Hartline said. “The press is helping to make our points for us.”

How so? Black’s faith outreach director, Frank Gorgie, told me this latest absurd news cycle shows the following: 1) How childish the Left and the press (but I repeat myself) are; 2) How willing they are to bend the truth for political advantage; and 3) How willing they are to ignore actual data about gun crimes if it doesn’t fit their preferred gun-grabber narrative.

So while the ACLU may have plans to crush its allegiance to the First Amendment, Hartline said Black plans to indefinitely brandish it as a weapon. Just when everyone on either the Left or the Right says it’s time to moderate or tone down or de-trigger the message, that’s instinctively when Hartline says Black chose to rattle some cages in the service of truth-telling. He also hopes his boss has more company where that’s concerned.

“The ability to be genuine is the most important quality you can have and President Trump has taken the awareness of that to the next level,” Hartline said. “It’s time for politicians to stop worrying about what people are going to think about them and just stand up for what they believe in.”